Overview
- Vivek Wadekar announced at a Tuesday press conference that Pune will host a PRARAMBH 2026 mega outreach on May 15 to brief taxpayers on the Income-tax Act, 2025.
- Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Medha Kulkarni will be the chief guest with industrialist Lila Poonawalla and MCCIA president Pradeep Bhargava also slated to attend.
- The new law took effect on April 1, 2026 and cuts the statute from 819 to 536 sections with chapters trimmed from 47 to 23 and rules and forms reduced to 333 and 190.
- Taxpayer support now includes the 24x7 AI chatbot Kar Saathi, the Kar Setu guide with 2,000-plus FAQs, and Samvaad sessions for direct stakeholder Q&A.
- Refunds are being issued automatically through the Centralized Processing Centre in Bengaluru, and officials urged taxpayers to update contact details to prevent miscommunication.
- The Pune region will extend PRARAMBH 2026 programmes across 23 districts from May 18, with Marathi booklets on exemptions and TDS to aid local taxpayers.